Vikings reach injury settlement with Sanford

The Vikings parted ways with Jamarca Sanford, their 2009 seventh-round draft pick who had played in more than 70 games for them.

The Vikings have reached an injury settlement with safety Jamarca Sanford, allowing him to be released from the injured-reserve list and look for work elsewhere when he is healthy.

Sanford was placed on injured reserve during the Vikings’ roster moves to get to the league-mandated 53 players on the active roster before the season started. He was dealing with a strained quadriceps after recovering from a back injury earlier in training camp.

Sanford started all 13 games he played last year and had started 44 of the 70 regular-season games he played over a five-year career with the Vikings, as well as starting one of three playoff games.

In March, Sanford took a $750,000 cut in pay in order to guarantee $400,000 of his 2014 salary. He was scheduled to become a free agent after the season, but with the injury settlement he can start looking for a new team immediately.

The Vikings also lost safety Ahmad Dixon off their practice squad after the Chicago Bears signed him to their active roster on Monday. Practice squad players are allowed to sign to the 53-man roster of other teams. The Vikings had given Dixon a contract worth $9,300 a week on the practice squad, $3,000 more per week than the minimum usually given to practice squad players. Still, he will nearly triple that weekly salary with the rookie minimum of $420,000 per week on the 53-man roster.